Travel User-Generated Content

This study bridges the studies of Web 2.0, user-generated content, and tourism to give a more holistic picture of how all three are interconnected and interdependent in sharing travel-related content and information. Tourism is an information-intense industry; therefore, it is important to study the technological and consumer-behavior changes that impact the circulation and accessibility of travel information. The data in this study is collected through an online questionnaire, interviews, and content analysis. The data is used to find what travel-related UGC is created and shared, where this UGC is shared, why it is created and shared, and also how it is used as a travel-information resource. This study focuses on English as a Second Language Teachers in Seoul, South Korea as they are highly networked and travel often. The results of this study find that the most common forms of travel-related UGC created and shared are photographs and blog posts. Also, Facebook is heavily used as a platform to post travel-related UGC. The strongest motivations for creating and sharing UGC are to keep family and friends updated, to keep a personal archive of travels, and to provide information to help other travelers. ESL teachers use UGC as a travel-information resource mostly for inspiration and in the initial stages of travel.